Planning for adaptation: Applying scientific climate change projections to local social realities

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Even if greenhouse emissions are radically decreased, poor people in the developing world will still feel the impacts of climate change on their lives and livelihoods. While this may be manifested in drought and floods, rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns will also affect the availability
and quality of basic water supply.
World-class hydrological studies have been conducted that model the various impacts of climate change on South Africa’s catchments (Schulze 2012). These studies are used to inform national, and possibly catchment level, planning, yet poor communities have largely been absent from information
and planning processes. While macro-plans are no doubt important, community level action planning is essential in order to develop relevant and implementable solutions. It aims to enable communities to cope with the impacts of climate change by becoming more resilient.
In this context, the innovation of WRC project 2152 is that it bridged the gap between science and society to support community based adaptation. Hydrologists and climate modellers worked with NGO practitioners to develop, downscale and “translate” scientific projections, based on livelihood
and vulnerability information created jointly with pilot communities. NGOs ran community workshops that were specifically tailored around building awareness of climate change and the need for community based adaptation; exchanging knowledge with communities, including presenting the
downscaled climate model projections for their areas; and supporting communities to develop local action plans.